The Corporate team at law firm JMW Solicitors has scored three high-profile sports deals in a period of significant growth that has seen the completion of 33 deals since May last year. With a combined value of £200million, turnover topped £1.5million.

Led by Partner Mike Blood, JMW Corporate advised on the successful acquisition of Charlton Athletic Football Club, Yeovil Town Football Club and Stockport County Football Club; a collective deal value of £66million. Stockport County was purchased by local businessman Mark Stott last month; a life-long supporter of the club.

Mike Blood, Partner and Head of Corporate at JMW Solicitors, said: “We’re delighted to have played a role in the successful acquisition of three fantastic football clubs, all of which are now well-positioned to build upon strong foundations.

“The deals round-off a very strong period of growth for JMW’s Corporate team, with a turnover increase of 38% compared to the same period last year. With robust markets and a strong pipeline, we expect to continue 2020 on that same trajectory.”

JMW has built significant expertise in Sports Law, with these latest deals further strengthening its track-record. In conjunction with completing legal due diligence and negotiating the share purchase agreements as is usual for corporate transactions, the firm also used its expertise and contacts to deal with football regulatory requirements including liaising with the Football Association, the English Football League and the National League.

Stephen Taylor Heath, Partner and Head of Sports Law added: “JMW benefits from a huge amount of expertise across the Sports Law team, which allows us to offer clients a wide breadth of knowledge and experience, covering everything from corporate, commercial and immigration issues through to media, dispute resolution and regulatory matters.”

A national law firm has promoted 84 colleagues to associate and senior associate roles, with a record number of women recognised in 2020 for their achievements.

Irwin Mitchell has begun the new decade by promoting 51 colleagues to associate and a further 33 to senior associate status across the firm’s legal, financial and group services teams.

The Manchester office has seen no less than 15 promotions, with 12 new associates and three new senior associates in both the group services and legal teams.

Brooke Atherton, Wyatt Matthews and Sophie Mawdsley from Human Resources are all new associates. They are joined as associates by Louise Ward (Private Wealth) and four colleagues from Personal Injury – Chris Noblett; Edward Joy; Nicola Ashton and Shahin Master.

The associate promotions are made up by Anamika Pandey (Corporate); Saoirse de Bont and James Betts from the Court of Protection and Amanda Goral from Technical Litigation.

The three new senior associates are Lynne Carrick-Leary (Sales and marketing); Sarah Sharples from Personal Injury and Heather Roberts from the Wills, Trusts and Estates disputes team.

The firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion was further reinforced with a record 71% of the promotions comprised of female employees.

Irwin Mitchell is already one of the top law firms in the UK for gender diversity, with 65% of its lawyers being female, the highest proportion in the UK.

The promotions include 68 colleagues on the legal side of the business, while the 11 non-lawyers come from within the HR, Finance and Marketing departments. A further five work in the asset management and financial planning team or Ascent a debt recovery business in the Irwin Mitchell group.

The figures are made up of people from 11 of the firm’s regional offices, together with staff who work from home, highlighting the growth and popularity of flexible working options.

Andrew Tucker, Group Chief Executive at Irwin Mitchell, said: “The announcement of our associate and senior associate promotions is always a major milestone for the business and the individuals concerned.

“Associate promotions recognise the leaders in the firm and flag their expertise to colleagues and clients alike, so are not made lightly. These new roles reward achievement, while recognising the leaders of tomorrow and those best placed to support colleagues in their own development.

“With 60 female colleagues recognised for their efforts this year our commitment to gender diversity remains clear, as does the strength in depth on display across all our departments.

Our people are vital to the success of the business and promotion naturally brings a step up in terms of responsibility and as such, is a significant career step all involved can be proud of.

“I congratulate all those involved and look forward to seeing their continued progress throughout 2020 and beyond.”

Leading regional law-firm, Price Slater Gawne, has just celebrated 10 years in business.

Established in 2010, the Altrincham based practice has grown to become one the most dynamic, forward-thinking law firms in the Greater Manchester area.

One of the firm’s founding partners, Victoria Price, told us  “It only seems like yesterday since we welcomed our first clients. We have grown from a small clinical negligence and personal injury firm to one that now also specialises in family law, wills, probate and trusts, and court of protection services. We now represent clients old and young, locally and nationally.”  

Despite having a combined total of over 300 years of legal expertise amongst its lawyers, the firm has broken free of  the traditional legal world with an ambitious vision in mind: to create a legal services practice that is accessible, approachable and most of all, flexible.

Mark Slater told us “We’re proud to do things differently here at Price Slater Gawne and our results speak for themselves. We’ve been determined to promote a better way of working to encourage a healthy work /life balance. We champion flexible working practices so that our staff can enjoy their work and flourish! There is no great secret to the fact that happy people do a better job for their clients.” 

The firm now comprises 47 members of staff; some are employed directly and some are retained as consultants. The firm has apprentices, trainee solicitors, paralegals, junior and senior solicitors, in-house accountants and in-house costs draftsmen – all of which are supported by a first rate admin team and marketing specialists.  

As the firm continues to go from strength to strength, the future looks bright. Chris Gawne  explained “We have benefitted greatly from our move to The Downs in Altrincham in 2018. This relocation has put us on the map visually as well as providing a welcoming space for clients to come and meet with us. We always have an open door for clients old and new. There are good transport links to the office and there is always something going on in Altrincham centre. We are really enjoying being at the heart of this progressive town.”  

It is the firm’s intention to continue to invest in its infrastructure and its people with a view to achieving their ambitious growth goals over the next 5-10 years. 

All 3 directors agree that they can’t let the celebrations pass without paying homage to those who have helped the firm achieve its success, Victoria said “We’re blessed to have some of the UK’s most dynamic staff. We’re also very lucky to have excellent relationships with other businesses, locally and nationally who compliment and support the work we do. 

We would also like to say a huge thanks to our clients for the loyalty and support they have shown us over the years. We are very privileged to have been able to act for them.”